The conventional progressive wisdom is that the Trump Administration will be bad for cities and for transit users. But in recent decades, a unified Republican government has been better for public transit than a divided government.

An efficient and equitable transport system must be diverse to serve diverse travel demands. Planners need better tools to quantify and communicate the benefits of walking, cycling and public transit to sometimes skeptical decision makers.

Are Skyscrapers Profitable?

Yes and no, says Peter Bill. As a look at London's delightfully nicknamed towers - the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie, the Cheesegrater - shows, it may take years, and multiple economic cycles for skyscrapers to recoup their investment.

"[W]hy do developers bother building skyscrapers?" asks Peter Bill. An examination of the occupancy rates for four of London's newest towers "show it to be a risky game," he says. "Conception to completion can take more than a decade, ensuring the project is blighted by at least one economic downturn. The four towers examined above have yet to make a bean although all should when eventually filled."

“It’s much better to be the second owner of a tower, not the first,” says Digby Flower of Cushman & Wakefield. “The problem is you never know when in the cycle they will be delivered. But the big thing about towers is they have a 100-year lifespan and get reincarnated every 25 years.”

Bill compares the costs versus returns for vertically- and horizontally-oriented large buildings. "So a groundscraper costs £100 million to build and ends up worth £375 million," he concludes. "A skyscraper costs £125 million to build and is then worth £325 million."

"Why build skyscrapers? Lack of land, obviously. But there seems to be some sort of man thing going on here as well, doesn’t there?"

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